Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-01-21
now an AMATEUR EXPLORER TRAY.
ELED

now an AMAzEUR ExPLoREa TRAY.
ELED.
James Ricalton, principal Of the
Maplewood Public School in Newark,
N. j., tells how he Travelled 1900
miles at cost of 5000: II spent
month in Russia and passed through q
vast amount of territory that has never
been explored nor written about. Very
many, in fact large majority, of the
natives with whom came in contact in
Northern Russia had never before seen
an American and consequently I was an
object of great curiosity. My Russian
vocabulary was very small, and could
hold but little communication with the
natives, and for weeks never saw ON
English-speaking person. was to oil
intents and purposes dumb. 1 took
with me, as you know. three-wheeled
push cart, planned and built entirely
by myself except the wheels, and those
were made in Newark. This was for
greater part of the time I spent in
Russia, my hotel. In it I carried and
cooked my meals and slept at night.
My bill of fare consisted principally of
the native black rye bread, milk, and
eggs, of which I could always procure
an abundant supply, and very good.
When ! approached native village for,
such supplies, and made known that i
was an American, I would immediately
be surrounded by crowd of women
and children, who would follow me To-
my cart and stand about while I ate my
meals. Nearly all my meals we're taken
while surrounded by a crowd of twenty
five to 100. Sometimes when I went
into the native houses after hot water
to make tea or coffee, I would be in
vited to dine with them. If saw any
thing that I could eat. would accept
the invitation, but this was not often
the case. At night 1 would draw my
cart up behind barn, near village,
and almost invariably I would bel
awakened in the morning by murmur
of voices, and lifting the curtains of the,
cart would find myself surrounded by a
crowd of half-curious, Interpretations
natives. l would Immediately explain
that was an American, bound from
Archangel to st. Petersburg, and then
they would become very friendly. Had
been indiscreet enough to say was
English, my reception through this
country would be far different from
what it was. But the natives all seem
to have friendly feeling toward Ameri-
cans.
MY cart was so constructed that in
case of stormy weather could walk I'M
the center of it, and protected by tho
canvas cover from the storm, could
travel without great discomfort. It
weighed 125 pounds, and with my bag
gage and supplies weighed between 1eO
and 40 pounds. With it, and on foot,
I could average thirty miles day, and
was perfectly independent, except for
what supplies I purchased. 1 intended
bringing it home with me, but it be-
came quite dilapidated, and having an
opportunity to dispose of it to wealthy
Russian, who wanted it as q curiosity,
for nearly as much as it cost me. let
it 60. I secured about one hundred
photographs, from which shall mako
selections to illustrate my articles, and I
collected large number of curios.,
which have not arrived yet.
The natives I found very poor and;
ignorant. They have a few COWS and,
chickens, and raise little barley, rye:
and in some places oats. Upon these
they subsist, very seldom having meat
to eat. The country is level, sandy!
plain, in some places rolling, but never
mountainous. I was very much sur
prised to find it heavily wooded with
spruce, pine, and white birch, in some
places my road leading through woods
for distance of twenty-five miles,.
Another source of surprise to me was
the summer temperature found in this
high latitude. The summers are very
short, but the average temperture dur.
ing my trip through that country was
seventy-two degrees, and frequently in
the middle Of the day the thermometer
rose to eighty-fve."
ALMOST A HINT.
| It had grown to be somewhat later
than is agreeable in the case of dull